


Mom!

by larkofchaos



Category: Dungeons and Daddies (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, I'd like to, let's please talk about the poitential here, my mate presented me the concept of Carol and Paeden and now I'm living for it, paeden feels ooc but also idk how he'd act ic in this scene so i did my best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:14:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28080741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larkofchaos/pseuds/larkofchaos
Summary: Carol has been struggling in getting Paeden to settle  him into normal life, but, on nights when she gets to braid his hair, eat a crappy dinner, and watch cartoons with him, it all feels worth it.
Relationships: Carol Wilson & Paeden Bennetts
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	Mom!

The first challenge of the evening was getting Paeden to sit down. Carol had been working with him a lot when she wasn't at work, but there was so much distrust in this one little boy she knew it would take years for her to get him to trust her. But, all she wanted to do was take care of his hair. She wanted it to be maintained, that way she'd never have to tell him to shave it because it's so nasty.

Carol learned in the early weeks with Paeden that he was terrified of her making him shave his hair. Now, she sat on the couch, Paeden on a pillow on the floor watching Animaniacs. Carol carefully stroked through the curls with a hairbrush, careful not to pull Paeden's head too hard or scare him. The kid had a high pain tolerance, but she still knew that he probably had a tender head considering how little he actually brushed it. Brushing out curls was a bit of a counterproductive activity, but it helped Paeden's hair and that was for sure. When it was all brushed out, his hair reached his mid back, which baffled Carol. His hair grew crazy fast. But, she could tell the ends of it were dead and splitting. Not good. She wondered if he was focused enough on the show to let her trip off these few dead ends, so his hair was nice and healthy. Probably not. She'll try again later. 

Paeden had a  _ lot _ of hair, that's the one thing Carol is being reminded of as she does this. Part of her wonders if giving him an undercut would help him maintain it, but Carol also knew the mere insinuation that Paeden's getting his head shave will freak him out. She started at the top of his head, French braiding the hair tightly so it was out of his way and he could do whatever for days to come. each section easily coming into the braid as she worked her way down. First challenge; accomplished. 

The second challenge was trying to get Paeden to eat dinner. Carol could work with him on his texture problems, or his selectiveness.

Her biggest problem with getting him some food is getting him to eat  _ all _ of his food. More often than not he'd get halfway through something and say he was done because he wanted to go play. But she and Darryl both knew damn well that boy could eat a horse if he wanted to. A bottomless pit of appetite. 

"Alright, Paeden. What do you want to eat?" Carol looked in the cabinets and in the fridge, trying to piece together something that fit Paeden's tastes. 

"Rice-a-Roni?" Paeden offered, jogging in after her and latching onto her waist. At least Paeden liked Carol, it would be a hard living if he didn't. He was just a bit clingy, which made sense given where he comes from. 

Carol checked the cabinet for a box, and thank god they still had one. She grabbed the box of Rice-a-Roni and some smoked sausage out of the fridge to mix in for some actual nutritional value (also because that's just how Paeden liked it) and stroked Paeden's head while he lurked next to her as she began to mix up the dinner. 

"You go watch TV, kiddo. I'll bring it to you when it's done and then we can watch a movie." And off he went, with a grin and an okay, he went sprinting into the living room and jumping onto the couch dramatically. Carol smiled watching him. He held so much personality in such a small body. So much joy and excitement. Paeden honestly made living in her own apartment away from Darryl so much more bearable. She only had Grant on weekends, so the house got lonely during the week when she was at home. Paeden was a nice little friend to keep her company when work felt too long or the house felt too big. 

Carol began to simmer the Rice-a-Roni, slicing up the smoked sausage and working on sauteing it as it’s counterpart simmered. It took a total of fifteen minutes before Paeden came back into the kitchen to hug on Carol’s side. A new record for him. 

“It’s almost ready, Paeden. Just give me a few more minutes, okay?” She looked down at him and was met with eyes full of so much love and affection. Young eyes that held so much hope for the world. 

“I wanna help you, Carol! I can cook, too!” He stood on his toes to peer over the counter at what she was cooking. “How can I assist?” He seemed so eager to help. Or maybe it was just the appeal of using the fiery stove. Either way, Carol was amused. 

“Sorry, kiddo. I don’t need any help right now. Go finish your show.” She gently nudged him back in the direction of the living room, hoping he’d catch on and go. He did not. He huffed and crossed his arms, staring dagger at Carol, 

“But I wish to help!” 

“And that’s very noble of you, Paeden. But I’ve got it. I’ll bring you a plate when it’s done, okay, hon?” He deflated. It broke Carol’s heart to watch him deflate, but he did. The noise of the theme song for Pinky and the Brain played, and Paeden’s attention was immediately captured as he darted off into the living so he didn’t miss a second of his favorite portion of the episode. Good. Carol just needed a few minutes to finish dinner. 

“Carol! Carol! MOM!” She froze for a second, missing the plate as she scooped out some of the new finished meal. Her mind took a second to register what Paeden had said. He called her mom…

“I’m coming, baby!” She quickly got two plates fixed and headed to the kitchen to curl up with her son and watch cartoons until he fell asleep. 


End file.
